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The island of St. Croix is home to an extraordinary number of talented individuals who have made it their mission to provide both innovation and leadership for business occurring on the international level. Cane Bay Partners has become an integral part of developing the history for business culture in this region. They have been consistently dedicating themselves to the financial services of their clients in a growing marketplace that demands experience in order to gain success. Their history as a financial advising firm reveals that they are an integral part of the foundation for the market in the Virgin Islands that has been slowly growing on the global scale. Their success includes a strong track record that reflects millions of dollars in savings for each of their clients.

Cane Bay Partners has a history of cutting costs for their clients through possessing the ability to deal with debt, expansion, technological concerns, and many of the other obstacles that regularly face businesses in today’s marketplace. Over time, Cane Bay Partners has meticulously developed teams of consultants that can ensure success for each client. These teams are made up of technological professionals, analysts, and scorecard developers. Each of these individuals is committed to success and equipped with the tools needed to make much needed changes in order businesses to flourish.

This firm is building on its strong history by continuing to take innovation and talent seriously. They are constantly recruiting the most promising, business-oriented minds in the region in order to strengthen the standing of their clients as well. They can benefit any business with their comprehensive consulting services that depend on three sound dimensions. These concerns involve risk management, analysis consultation, and management consultation. They take these cornerstones of sound practice and combine them with knowledge of the market and a considerable amount of foresight concerning the goals of the client.

The success of the company has also allowed them to give back to the communities that they serve as well. Part of their mission has always been to contribute to the economic well-being of their neighbors in addition to their clients. The success of Cane Bay Partners in economic activity has allowed them to designate a considerable amount of their proceeds for numerous charitable organizations. Although this company has roots in small business, they are now a strong force in business for the U.S. Virgin Islands. They are an EDC-approved company whose abilities extend to product development, portfolio management, and collections modeling.

Many issues affect personal finance. Some issues are wholly controllable. Others may not be. To take personal finance to the next level, scrutinize financial areas that are easily controlled and those that may not be controllable. How individuals manage their finances requires a thorough inventory of spending and saving habits.

Kirk Chewning on how to Take Your Personal Finance to the Next Level

Charting a Course to the Next Level

Keeping track of spending and saving is essential to taking your personal finances to the next level. One analogy is a perfect example of how to track spending and savings: A wealthy man teaches his son to write every penny spent and saved in two columns every day. At the end of each week, he asked his son to total the two columns to see whether his savings exceeded his spending.

While many may not wish to keep a daily record of their spending and saving habits, a weekly financial assessment is a practice that provides keen insight into spending and saving habits.

From this point, it’s easy to decide whether spending was based on “want” or “need.” The difficulties many individuals face with poor savings habits are the inability to distinguish the difference between spending on necessities and spending on luxuries.

Educate Yourself Financially

The more an individual learns about managing their finances and sources of income and expenses, the more likely they are to take their personal finance to the next level. There are many ways to increase knowledge of finances. Today, there are numerous venues and study courses that effectively broaden knowledge of personal financial management. Some of these venues and study courses are highly affordable and extremely worthwhile.

Don’t Fear Personal Financial Management

Many people don’t recognize the true issue in taking their personal finances to the next level: fear. Armed with a broader education of money management, investing, risk and spending wisely, fear is greatly diminished. It’s also important to study the habits of those who have successfully taken their personal finances to the next level. Take note of the types of financial consultants who guide individuals into greater success with finances.

There are rapid technology advancements that continue to change the banking industry. The three biggest finance trends will drive the industry forward this year.

Online And Mobile Banking

According to The Financial Brand, over half of the banks in American are online, and 32 percent of the banks handle transactions on mobile devices. Many organizations have designed a suite of comprehensive mobile apps that let customers pay their bills, check their balances, and transfer money. Most apps also give consumers information about new products and services and fraudulent activity notifications. Each app provides real-time access and has easy banking interaction features. Besides simplistic banking functions, consumers also demand sophisticated services, such as remote deposit capture methods and image banking features. These tools let customers scan their checks; once scanned, the checks are transmitted to a bank immediately.

Virtual Banking

Virtual banking has gained a lot of popularity in the United States. USA Today reported that a few branches of Bank of America were overhauled with advanced technology services. Virtual ATM machines were one of the new additions; they let customers communicate with a remote teller using conferencing software.

Most customers are now using online and mobile channels, so banks are now understanding the economics of running numerous branches. This is why many banks are investing in video kiosks that have interactive touch screens and other features.

Big Data And Cloud Services

Digital banking technologies and social media generate big data for bankers. Today, banks can monitor their clients as they journey through branch channels, digital channels, and social media channels. Bankers use the data when they perform analytics so that they can improve their decision making skills.

Cost management is a serious issue for banks. However, many banks will continue to run their business systems and applications using cloud services, but they will transfer their sensitive data at a private data center.

Disrupters

This year, more banking disrupters that provide alternative banking services will be available to consumers. This technology trend will gain even more momentum throughout this year as more consumers begin to use their mobile devices to make their payments.

The Financial Brand reports that mobile wallet technology lets consumers manage their debit, gift cards, and credit from a smartphone using one application. After the screen is tapped several times, the payment is made instantly. Consumers do not need to carry around numerous plastic cards.

Banks will always invest in new technologies that give them an advantage over the competition. Though, the technologies must help them reach modern consumers.

After spending decades in the workforce and wanting to truly begin living at a younger age, there are several ways to retire early and accomplish financial goals. Although there are many steps to take to retiring early and building different funds, it’s possible to create a successful plan that has proven to be successful. With the right tactics in place, you can retire early and enjoy a comfortable lifestyle at a younger age.

Find Work That Has Great Benefits

To build a nest egg that grows at a rapid rate, work for companies that offer 401(k) matching programs. You should also have the option of a monthly pension program or a lump-sum pension, which can allow you to work a shorter number of years and reach your goals quickly.

Diversify Your Portfolio

Avoid having an aggressive approach with your investment while also investing in a number of areas to prevent substantial loss from occurring. Avoid putting all of your money in a 401(k) plan or IRA while taking advantage of four other types of investments, which include stocks, bonds, short-term investments, and international investments. Less swings will be experienced for a portfolio that has a number of various investments and can steadily grow over time.

Determine a Number

To retire early, it’s essential to determine how much you’ll need to save to live comfortably and even enjoy a few luxuries. You’ll need to have a larger amount of money saved for the extra years that you’ll be retired, as well as factor in inflation, health care, and the annual returns that you’ll receive from your investments.

Save for Health Insurance

Retiring doesn’t mean that you immediately receive the benefits of free health insurance. You’ll still need to wait until the age of 65 to receive Medicare. Determine how much you’ll need to save for an individual policy or the cost of continuing your coverage with COBRA after you quit your job.

Keep Withdraws to Four to Five Percent

Financial experts recommend keeping your withdraw rate to four to five percent during the first year of your retirement. That amount can then be increased in the years following to match inflation that steadily occurs. Avoid withdrawing up to seven to 10 percent each year, which can deplete your funds sooner and make it difficult to live comfortably in later years.

Successful entrepreneurs understand that succeeding in the increasingly competitive global marketplace demands highly refined economies of scale and streamlined business processes. Financial services companies and other business models that require a high performance online presence can greatly benefit from the expertise of a business operations consultant. This is especially true for local businesses that want to compete in a regional or global economy. Service provider analysis, adopting more efficient channels of distribution and the implementation of cutting edge technologies can revolutionize business operations and overall financial performance.

Operations Management Solutions

An experienced strategic business consultant specializes in outsourcing vital business operations to leverage economies of scale and improve business processes. Improving business processes on a global scale demands a strong background in both the technology and financial services industries. Access to proven onshore and offshore business resources is absolutely crucial in the competitive global economy.

Providing the fuel for high performance business operations begins with a thorough analysis of business goals and current trends. Only a professional business consultant is prepared to address the financial, legal, human resources, information, accounting, technology and treasury management needs of an aspiring international business. In some ways, the recipe for business success hasn’t really changed. Reducing costs, maximizing efficiency and improving the customer experience are the essential components of any effective business model.

Mission Critical Functions

A strategic business consultant can identify and improve the critical functions necessary to accomplish important business goals. Data management seems to get the headlines these days, but a strategic business consultant understands that performance and results are the only acceptable metrics for evaluating success. A centralized consultant team has the professional knowledge and experience to design and implement customized business strategies that produce results and eliminate costly trial and error.

Outsourcing essential services such as staffing, customer service, contact center management, receivables processing and other knowledge based functions can streamline a business model, making it possible for a company to focus on product development and delivery. Transforming an online business model to maximize financial investment requires the use of best-in-breed outsource and in-source technologies and business strategies.

Industry Specific Expertise

A strategic business consultant team develops customized strategies to help businesses benefit from current business and technology trends. Shared and outsourced business solutions are managed with a high degree of efficiency to increase competitiveness and maximize profits. A strategic consultant will analyze current business processes and recommend a customized plan to guide a company as they make the transition from local merchant to global competitor.

Keeping track of your personal finances is almost a must today if you want to know where your money is going and want to avoid being deeply in debt. For many of us, it’s easier said than done. Whether it’s matter of not wanting to know what needs fixing or just lack of time, too many consumers fail to track their finances. Here are some very effective ways of tracking finances.

AppsIn this mobile and technology-filled world we live in, there are apps for almost everything. If you’re one of the many who carry their phones with them 24/7, you can really benefit from a finance app. There are so many available, you’ll have trouble finding the right one.

Many of these apps are almost like having your own financial advisor right by your side at all times. Here are some of the most popular types of financing apps

• Apps to help budget and keep track of accounts – These apps help you see where you’re spending too much and how much you have to spend. Some will even send out an alert if you’re spending too much.
• Apps to help monitor and pay bills – Need reminding when a bill is due? These apps do everything but provide the money to pay your bills.
• Apps to help with saving – These apps show you ways you can cut back and offer ways to help save and monitor your savings.
• Apps to help with investing – Any questions you may have about investment options can be answered. You’ll get suggestions on hot stocks and favorable investments.

The Internet

Is there really anything that can’t be found on the Internet? There are so many financial websites that offer great tips on financing as well as spreadsheets, graphs and charts showing you how to balance your checkbook, where your money is going and ways to save. Many of the websites can link right to your personal bank and other accounts so they’re always on top of things.

Old School Methods

Regardless of how many of the newer forms of technology that seem to come out, I still always go back to my trusty old Xcel spreadsheet. It adds and substracts, which are the two things I need most to see my debits vs. my credits.

Spreadsheets also allow you to sort by accounts or dollar amounts. While they won’t give you the helpful tips on how to save, they can keep you on top of how much money you actually have to spend. I can also use the same spreadsheet on my mobile device.

The credit scores that are used by most banks and lenders in the United States are the ones provided by FICO. This company has a proprietary formula that uses information from the three credit bureaus in the country: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

The formula for calculating a credit score

Although the specific formula has not been revealed, FICO has revealed the general weights involved in calculating a credit score. There are five areas that influence a credit score and each of these factors carries a different influence.

Your payment history

This is a category that includes such things as a bankruptcy, foreclosures and various liens on your property. However, the majority of this category, for most people, will reflect the negative marks on a credit report that relate to late payments. Everything together is this category represents 35 percent of a consumer’s FICO score.

Amount of debt

FICO is vague about defining this area of a credit rating calculation. They claim that part of it relates to how much a consumer owes relative to how much credit they have, but they also take into consideration the type of debt that is owed. Credit cards, for example, are given different weights than installment loans that have been paid down over time. The number of open accounts with balances is also factored in. Together, the debt owed by a consumer will affect a credit rating by 30 percent.

The three minor factors

The length of time a consumer has had a credit history is given a weight of 15 percent. The second minor factor is the type of credit that shows on your report. For example, FICO gives different weights to a mortgage versus a credit card. This accounts for 10 percent of the score. Finally, there is the number of recent inquiries into a consumer’s credit report. An inquiry happens when an individual applies for a loan, credit card or other such borrowing. It is only the last two to six weeks that is factored into the formula. It is given a weight of 10 percent. Together, these three factors add up to 35 percent of a consumer’s credit score.

It should be noted that beginning in late 2014, FICO will be changing its formula slightly. The most significant change will be debt from medical bills. Consumers who have outstanding debt from medical bills will have less emphasis placed on them, so it is possible that people with medical debt may see their credit scores increase moving into 2015.